Some landmarks are so intertwined with their communities that it’s difficult, if not impossible, to think of one without the other. The pier in White Rock is one such landmark. It is foundational in the development of the current city of White Rock and intrinsic to its sense of place.
However, at several points along the history of the pier, its existence in the form we know today wasn’t guaranteed. Key decisions, from the initial one to build it, to several ones to not destroy it or to change it in ways that would have made it unrecognizable, have shaped it into the one we know today: White Rock’s pier – the longest pier in Canada.
White Rock – What if…?
At various times in its history, the development of the pier and the White Rock waterfront could have gone in very different directions from what exists now.
White Rock could instead have been the site of commercial industrial port or the terminal location for ferry services to other communities on the coast.
If either of these had happened or if the pier had been demolished as was planned in the 1970s, how do you think that would have affected the community of White Rock?